About Me

Professional Life

Brief:

Faisal Khan is an independent Banking & Payments Consulting providing advisory services for banks and financial services companies. Most of my work is based on architecting payment networks, products, and solutions for clients or doing product/idea validation. Core focus has always been on cross-border transactions in the P2P, B2C and B2B space.

I am also an advisor to Hippocorn (a VC company out of Denmark) as well as a talent scout for Series A & B financing for various fintech VCs/funds.

Core competencies lie in money-transmission, especially across borders for purposes of money-transfer (remittances). Deep understanding of the mechanics involved in money transmission, from the old, new and emerging methodologies, including value-transfer using alternative currency methods.

Pragmatic experience with various markets (US, Canada, UK/Europe, GCC, East Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and parts of Eastern Europe)

Mr. Khan holds a Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and Masters in Electrical Engineer (Major: Electromagnetics) both from Florida Institute of Technology.

Professional Associations

Co-Host, Around The Coin. The premier podcast of banking, payments, and fintech. Hosted weekly.

Non-Executive Director, DigitalX (Traded on the Australian Stock Exchange). DigitalX leverages Blockchain technology and the secure ledger system to create new and innovative software.

Advisor, Digital Finance Institute (Toronto, Canada). Think tank created for the next generation of financial services.

Advisor Fintech (Banking & Payments), HippoCorn (Copenhagen, Denmark). HippoCorn helps start-ups & established firms move in the right direction, by connecting them with investors and specialist advisors from around the world.

Member of the Board of Advisors for The Identity and Payments Association (IDPay) (USA). IDPay is a worldwide association for companies, organizations, and professionals in digital payments and identity verification

Advisor, Everex.io EVEREX is a young technology startup in the blockchain space with both a team and a business-model uniquely qualified to answer some of the challenges of international micro financing. Creating a Global, Inclusive Economy with Blockchain-Powered Microfinance and Remittance Services.

Advisor, Invest2Innovate (i2i). Invest2Innovate supports startup communities in growth markets, and has been operating in Pakistan since 2011. We believe that startup communities are forming all over the world, but more fragile or nascent markets can disable and hinder that entrepreneurial growth. At i2i, we believe the next great innovators can and should come out of countries like Pakistan, Iran, and Nigeria, but need the resources and proper ecosystem to get there.

Member Board of Directors (Non-Executive, Independent), Taurus Securities. Our purpose is to provide a full range of capital market related products and services to individual and institutional clients. We aim to achieve this goal by setting industry standards for integrity, personalized service, efficiency and innovation. At Taurus we put our belief in quality into practice: we are one of the few Pakistani equity broking firms to have obtained an internationally recognized ISO 9001:2008 certification, an international standard for quality management systems.

“Blockchain 101: Everything you wanted to learn about blockchain but were afraid to ask” 23rd December 2016, hosted at LeapFrog / MachNet, Kathmandu, Nepal.

“Blockchain 101: Everything you wanted to learn about blockchain but were afraid to ask” 14th November 2016, hosted at Hippocorn, Copenhagen, Denmark.

The PaymentBanking (German Fintech Podcast) – hosted by Kilian Thalhammer & Rafael Otero #72: Interview with Faisal Khan on Payment & Banking in Pakistan (introduction in German, but the podcast is in English).

Advisory Committee Member for the “Innovation Challenge Fund: To Improve Remittance Services for Overseas Pakistani Workers“, Karandaaz Pakistan (in association with United Kingdom Department for International Development (UKAid) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation), Pakistan October 2016.

Who Am I?

Where Do I Work?

I work for my own company called Faisal Khan & Company which specializes in Cross-Border Money Transfer and Payment Systems. I’m essentially a payments consultant and an evangelist for digital money (aka Bitcoins and the Blockchain technology)

What Do I Specialize In?

I primarily specialize in cross-border money transmission.

If your project has anything to do with money transfer, remittances, business payments, money transmission laws, money transmitter licenses, store-value (e-money), access to banking, processing partners, payout access, tie-ups, etc. — this is what I do best.

Some of the example clients I work with:

Money transfer operators trying to gain access to banking

Fortune 1000, 500 and even Fortune 100 company trying to optimize your international ACH payments

Licensed Bank wanting to get more international business, remittance tie-ups

Licensed money transmitter, trying to forge alliances with partners in various countries for remittance payouts

Payment processor wanting to connect with clients whose payments you would like to process

Fintech startup looking for advice on how to penetrate a certain market segment

Individual entrepreneur trying to understand the complex maze of the payments world

Not-For-Profit entity trying to find the most cost-efficient method to make payments overseas, directly to the end-users

In addition to the world of money transfer, I’m a payments guy, which means, I work with all facets of payments. Some of the areas I work in are:

Which Markets Do I Work In?

About 80% of my clients are from North America and the remaining 20% are from UK/EU. My clients contact me when they are interested in expanding their reach into foreign markets.

I understand the money transfer space in:

US

Canada

EU (including the Nordic and Eastern European Countries)

Australia

NZ

South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh)

Far East (Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia)

Middle East (UAE & Saudi Arabia)

Africa (South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Egypt, Morocco).

I’m well versed in the money transmission laws, banking and processing partners, legal formalities to do business in these territories and above all, have an excellent network of people with whom I can connect you.

Why Have An Introductory Call With Me?

You would be surprised by how many people have benefitted from consulting with me. Take a look at my Testimonials page.

A 60-minute call can answer pretty much all your questions and clear up all the doubts you may have regarding your product or service. I exercise an Ask Me Anything policy during the call. If I can connect you with the right people, partners, companies, I will do so without hesitation. That by itself is a huge time-saver. To book a call with me, simply click here.

Where Am I Based Out Of?

I am based out of Karachi, Pakistan. Don’t let that deter you, for I work globally.

How Can I Verify Your Domain Knowledge?

In addition to the testimonials, one of the best ways to have a sense of semblance to my knowledge & domain experience is to review my Answers on Quora. I have in excess of 5,000+ answers on Quora and have been a Top Writer 2013, Top Writer 2014 and Top Writer 2015. You can view my Quora Profile in full here.

Who Do I Work With?

I’ve worked with everyone; virtually from everywhere around the globe.

From entrepreneurs who are starting out with just an idea to fintech startups who are seeking growth, mid-sized companies seeking access to foreign markets, banks & financial institutions who would like more business, to Fortune 500 companies who have very niche requirements for international cross-border money transfer or payment processing.

Why Hire me?

Why? Because I’ll help you get closer to your goal, without the bull. My basis for working with people & companies has three basic tenants which my clients love:

I work irrespective of the project value (sticker price). Your project or assignment could be worth US$ 10,000 to US$ 10 Billion, it has no relevance with respect to my engagement. I look at the problem, not the value of the project.

I do not partake in equity or shareholding. Nor do I want it. My engagement is for select services, and then I am out of the way. It’s your project, and you retain full ownership (equity/shareholding) rights in it.

I have no interest in taking a percentage on a per transaction basis. The income from each transaction is yours to keep. Not mine.

I help clients clear up the fog with respect to their business plan. I aid in bringing clarity to their approach. I keep the buzzwords out and help them understand the various complex intricacies of the payments world and legal verbiage in plain, easy to understand English.

I make the complex simple! (and I can do simple to complex).

How Do I Bill?

I bill for my time or for the referral (matchmaking I do), plain and simple.

Based on the engagement this could be on an hourly basis, project basis or retainer basis.

What Do I Do At Work?

At work, most of my time is spent on client problems.

This essentially means reading, understanding, researching, creating, designing, developing and deploying specialized payment systems and networks. Most of these systems are for cross-border money transfer (remittances) as well as bespoke payment systems for online and mobile peer-to-peer payments.

The remainder of my time is for education and upkeep. I will devote a couple of hours a day reading & researching what is happening in the payment, banking, and fintech world.

What Are Some Of The Areas I Do Not Work In?

There are four specific areas in the payments space that I do not work in:

Die hard foodie. The different types of foods I enjoy – Korean, Japanese, Arabic (especially Lebanese), Italian, French, and any kind of seafood.

Though I don’t own a DSLR (….yet!) I do enjoy B&W photography. Books are my weakness and are a very distant second, after my family. I could drown myself in books all the time. I cannot enlist a favorite author or favorite book for you. Too many, but if it has writing on it – chances are I would read it. I have recently over the past couple of years, taken an avid interest in History and Geography. Two subjects I used to shy away from when I was young and now very much love them.

As with almost everyone else, I love movies. I can pretty much watch any genre with the exception of comedy or horror films. I try to avoid them, its not that I don’t watch them entirely. Combine movies and history, and you get a very lethal combination.

I contribute a lot of content to Quora. I also contribute content & edit content on Wikipedia. Recently, I have also started adding records to the OpenLibrary project.

Babushka99 Handle

What’s the backstory on the handle: “Babushka99” ?

Many of you, who know of me (online) also know that I mostly use “babushka99” as my online handle/nick. You’ve probably thought, what the heck does that mean? why does he call himself that?

Here is the answer as to why I call myself “babushka99?

When I was in college, in the 1990s (early). I was infatuated with CIA/KGB books. So much so, that I enrolled in a Russian Language class (yes, I can speak the language……somewhat rusty!). At the same time, a movie came out called “SNEAKERS” — one of the characters a lead hacker in the movie is called “Mother”.

Babushka if you don’t know – means Grand Mother in Russian. It is also referred to as a beret (cap) in Polish, and Kate Bush has a song called Babooshka.

Anyhow, since we were very much plugging into the internet, BITnet, FIDOnet, COMPUServ for the very first time, I choose my nick as Babushka.

The “99? got added to it – to be almost 100% sure that whenever I apply for a User ID, the Username “babushka99? would always be available.

So the name is a combination of the CIA/KGB fascination, Russian Language, and the Grand Master association to Hacking from the Movie SNEAKERS.

Contact

If you need to get in touch with me, my address is fk /at/ faisalkhan /dot/ com. You can follow me on the various social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, Quora, LinkedIn and Google+

Contact

You can easily see my real-time calendar availability and schedule a time with me by clicking here.

About Faisal Khan

Faisal Khan is a banking / payments consultant specializing in cross-border payment systems and a digital money evangelist. He is the co-host of Around The Coin, a weekly podcast on banking, money and payments. Mr. Khan is an advisor to Hippocorn (a VC company out of Denmark) as well as a talent scout for Series A & B financing for various fintech VCs/funds. He is also a frequent contributor to popular Q&A site Quora.